Guiltless Banana Bread

4 bananas

1 cup sugar*

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup pureed white beans**

Mash bananas and mix in sugar- let sit about 15 minutes. Mix all other ingredients together in another bowl. Then add banana mixture. Mix well...until very few lumps remain. Pour batter into a greased pan (I just spray mine real quick). Bake at 325* for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Health information: 12 grams of fat, 2160 calories for the entire recipe; divided by 18 it is0.7 grams of fat and 120 calories per slice.

So originally the 1/2 cup of white bean puree is really 1/2 cup of vegetable oil...but I read about the substitution and I wanted to try it. It turned out really yummy and I feel less guilty about having a second slice! I promise you can not tell there are beans in the bread. I am no health fanatic but it seems like an obvious choice if I can make such little changes to my "normal" without being able to tell. *And I am sure you could make it even more healthy if you used Splenda instead of white sugar (that would make it only 85 calories per slice), however I didn't do that because we didn't have Splenda on hand...because I'm not that much of a health fanatic, remember? :)*

**No for those of you wondering about the bean puree, here is the scoop. I used one can of Great Northern Beans- drained and rinsed. Then put them in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of water and pureed them with my hand blender until it was a peanut butter consistency. This made just over 1 cup of the puree- I used half and put the other half in the fridge to try in a future recipe.**

Give it a try! What have you got to lose? It is a yummy snack that has protein, iron, and fruit in it...and I find that it is more filling too! :) Good luck!

Sick...

Nuts. Leo was blessed with health for the first year of his life...then not so much. When we went in for his 12 month well-check, they found an ear infection. Sure he had been a bit whiney, but I thought it was teeth and he really wasn't that cuckoo or had a fever. Our first round of antibiotics didn't help, the second was accompanied with a rash that the doctor determined was unrelated...not sure if that made me feel better or not. Anywho, we are done with the second round but he is still messing with that left ear :( His sleeping has been off but we weren't at home for the last two nights so I didn't worry too much...but now we are home and he was up in the night and required Tylenol to get back to sleep. Some meals he won't eat more than a few grapes but then other times he packs it away like normal...so the whole no-appetite thing is not a for sure symptom. And don't get me started on the runny nose...so tired of it!

This morning though he was whiney so I picked him up and he laid his head down on me and we stood there watching Little Einstein for a minute and then I looked down and he was asleep...two hours before nap time?! So yeah...after he wakes up we will be on a mission to figure out whats up and how I can help him. Housework needs to be done and I look like it has been a long few days, but nothing much matters when your baby needs a little TLC! Wish us luck :)

The in-between stages

Leo is super fun right now...he is totally getting how to play and it makes it so fun! However we are kind of in some in-between stages too that are just killing me. I know, I know- enjoy the moment because all too soon they are gone.

In-between stage #1 - mobility

Leo is really a great walker already and has started to try to run even, however a lot of times he trips over his own feet which most of the time he thinks is funny...and then he lays there waiting for you to tickle him. He is slowly getting the idea of climbing and does really well on stairs, although there are none in our apartment so he doesn't get to fine-tune those skills too often...but he has started to climb on little things around here.

With all that being said, Leo just still isn't mobile enough for me to let him loose. I know- I'm a helicopter mom or whatever it is called...so sue me. But really, he isn't old enough or mobile enough to just let him walk on his own everywhere. For starters he loves wheels...loves them. He simply can't resist them actually. So if he gets down at a store, he goes straight for the wheels of the cart...and not just my cart, anyone's cart or display or mop bucket. And he wants to lay down on the floor to play with them too...and the poor kid just doesn't get that you can't lay on wal-mart's floor and play with dirty shopping cart wheels! Parking lots are fun too...you can just imagine that the kid's hands are always black! And going to the park is a favorite since Leo whines to go "buh-bye" and actually sheds tears when I make him come inside, however when we get there he is too little to climb on the equipment and so he just tries to eat mulch or wants to play with our stroller wheel. Sigh. Not so much fun. So while I am grateful for this stage, the whole independent plus still baby-esque thing is just a little trying.

In-between stage #2 - eating

Oh moms all over the world can sympathize with this one right? Leo is too old for baby food and prefers to feed himself, naturally. However with only a few little chompers and not enough coordination to use a utensil yet, finding foods that he can eat is a bit challenging. Something he can feed himself but can't be too small that it needs a spoon...and lets try to be healthy...and some sort of variety would be nice. I dream of the day when Leo will just eat what we eat, which granted he does a lot of the time...but it seems like there is always a significant portion that doesn't meet his criteria and I am searching the cupboards for something other than graham crackers to supplement his dinner... 'cause let's face it, the boy can eat! And if we are being honest here, Leo isn't too terrible most of the time to let us feed him with a spoon, however then we don't get to eat (or fold laundry or mop or whatever other fun task I have left for when he is locked up in his highchair!) Plus I swear he eats the same things over and over- not because he won't eat anything else but because I just don't know what to feed him!

So there you go- there is my ranting for the day. I have a lot of other in-between stages, however they don't seem to bother me quite as much. These are the two biggies that I struggle with every day. So if anyone wants to come feed my child for a day, please do it! (While you are at it you could feed us too...I am seriously out of dinner ideas- I feel like we eat the same thing and I'm tired of fixing dinner every single day! I need some motivation but it just isn't fun to cook with a toddler at your heels.) In any case, none of us are starving and so life goes on!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just in case you didn't get our card this year, here it is...and my apologies! (Either I don't have your current address and attempts to get it were unsuccessful OR you didn't send us any cards this year and have thus been cut from our list...sorry, I'm not made of money here!)

We were so glad to finally get some family pictures and some really good ones of Leo at 1 year...all the photos are by Lauren Bertoldo of LuLu Photography. I'm not very good at just uploading photos into a pre-made layout- that is the obsessive control freak in me I guess- so I whipped this baby up one night in photoshop and had it printed...easy, fairly cheap, and ready the next day! Wahoo!

We love Valentine's around here- it is definitely in my top 3 holidays! (Haven't you noticed that I haven't changed my blog background since last year? I just hate to change it because I love V-day stuff so much! And it doesn't actually say anything about Valentine's...) I had made some tissue paper pom pom balls that hung from the ceiling with fishing line and a cute felt heart garland I saw on pinterest this year to add to our decor. We started the day with pink, heart-shaped pancakes with banana slices cut into hearts and mini chocolate chips. Nick had lunch at school so Leo and I ate whatever we could find at home...but for dinner we had red and white heart-shaped pasta with red sauce. It wasn't as extravagant as my original ideas, but it had been a long day and this was quick, easy, and super yummy. For dessert we enjoyed pink, heart-shaped rice krispy treats...Nick's was made into an ice cream sandwich with ice cream between 2 treats and the edges rolled in sprinkles. Delish! Other than that we kept it real low key this year- Leo and I enjoyed a walk to Sonic and I opted for a cranberry vanilla sprite instead of my usual Dr. Pepper since it was pink (and a close second I must admit!). Leo got a juice box and loved every minute of sipping on that straw while he pushed the stroller most of the way home- that kid loves anything with wheels!

Hope you had a day filled with love!

One Year Olds Are Exhausting!

We have sure been busy lately...I would love to catch up on the old blog, but it just hasn't made it very high on the to-do list each day. In any case I thought I would give you a sneak preview of our recent family/1 year old photos. Leo is pretty stinking cute! As for me, well, to be honest I wasn't aware I looked that bad! But it was a good reality check for me and I am seriously going to do whatever it takes to get the rest of my Leo weight off...hopefully.

Leo currently has an ear infection- his first! He likes his medicine and really hadn't been too out of shape about it until tonight...let me tell you that if this is what toddlerhood looks like, I am not a fan. Serious tantrum! Poor guy...I know he just doesn't feel right. We are lucky we went in for his 1 year well-check because they told us then that he had the ear infection- I think it was just starting and his "symptoms" he had thus far I had just attributed to teething. In any case, here are his

1 year stats:

Weight - 25 lbs 2 oz (80th percentile)

Height - 30" (56th percentile)

We sure hope he gets back to normal soon! Nick has been taking finals and I am always too busy with a million projects half-done so it would be really nice to have our sweet baby back!